"You may have more than me and my brood. I have called for Kriss'thass," she said.
That made Tarrin rock back on his heels. Sapphire had taught him some of the dragon language, and that was a word he understood. That was a term that meant Council of Wisdom, and it meant that Sapphire had summoned the dragons that represented the ruling body of their race to come and debate an issue of dire importance.
"If Val is raising an army of Demons, then it is an issue that concerns us all," she said simply, seeing Tarrin's horrified expression. "I was not alive for it, but I was told that during the Blood War, the dragons held themselves aloof from the troubles of the little races, wrapped in an aire of their own superiority. The devastation the Demons wrought before they finally came to their senses and fought with the little races caused famine among our kind and taught us a harsh lesson," she told him bluntly. "When we ignore the plight of the weaker races, when we believe our own power makes us as gods ourselves, inviolate and omnipotent, we doom ourselves to a fool's end. The Blood War taught us that the happenings and problems of the little races can affect us. This time, the dragons will not sit on their haunches and believe that the fate of the little races is not our concern. If Val is fielding an army of Demons, he will find dragons facing him across the line."
Mist laughed nervously. "I'm pretty sure that'd be a sight enough to make even a Demon wet his pants," she said, looking at Sapphire.
"We can harm Demons," Sapphire said with a terrible kind of eagerness. "Our power may be of the land, but not even a Demon's invulnerability can withstand it. We know how to get around that."
"Triana must have figured it out as well," Tarrin said. "Jenna told me that Triana's magic was what drove the Demons away when they attacked Jula in Ungardt."
"It can be done," she nodded confidently. "It speaks much of Triana's power if she is capable of it. To do it, one must take native Druidic magic and make it unnatural, and you know that the demands on the Druid rise exponentially when he reaches outside of the bounds of the natural order." Tarrin nodded emphatically, remembering the many lessons Sarraya and Triana had taught him about that. Druidic magic could do anything, but as soon as one tried to use it in a way that wasn't natural or existed beyond the bounds of nature's workings, the toll it took on the Druid raised drastically. If Triana could twist it into an unnatural form of magic, then she had to possess awesome power. "When this is over, she and I must meet and teach one another," she said. "I have the feeling she can teach me things even I do not know, and I have much to teach to her. I think she is capable of much of what dragons can do with Druidic magic."
She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, looking up at him. "Now, time is wasting, little friend. Take me to Jenna. Let us get her scolding out of the way, so we can move on to the important matter. Getting my little one's daughter back."
He gave her a sincere, honest, and emotionally charged look of utter relief and hope. If Sapphire was going to help, then his chances to recover Jasana alive just went up significantly.
"Wait here," Tarrin told the females. "When Triana gets here, send her to Jenna's office."
"We'll be here," Jesmind nodded.
Tarrin led Sapphire through the halls of the Tower, and the dark looks on the two of them caused every other person that happened across them to get very far out of the way. Tarrin had no patience for anoyone who got in his way, and Sapphire's expression was as dark and ominous as a thundercloud. Everyone in the Tower, from the lowest servant to the Keeper herself, knew that the dark-haired woman with the chilling eyes was actually a dragon, and they all gave her a very wide berth. That cushion of safe area increased greatly when they saw how angry she was.
But not everyone respected that cushion. When they turned a corner, he saw Kimmie and Phandebrass moving in their direction. Kimmie gave out a low cry and ran towards him, then literally jumped up into his arms and hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry!" she said in a weepy voice. "If I'd have known, if I'd just had more patience and stayed inside, maybe-"
"No, Kimmie," he told her gently. "It's best you did what you did, and you probably saved lives out there on the grounds. I don't blame you."
"But Jasana-"
"She won't be there long," he said in a dangerous voice, looking down into her eyes.
She sniffled, her luminous blue eyes shining with unshed tears. "Anything you need, my love," she said with all her heart. "Anything you need, and it's yours. If we don't have it, we'll take it from whoever does."
Tarrin actually laughed. "Don't get savage on me now, Kimmie," he told her. "It doesn't suit you."
"I can't help it. With my own child under my heart, I know exactly how you feel. I'd take the world apart stone by stone if someone threatened our baby."
"I say, that's no lie there," Phandebrass said as he reached them. "You should have seen her out on the grounds, Tarrin, you should. I say, I've never seen her so, aggressive with her magic before. I didn't know she knew half of those spells, I didn't!"
"She's a mother defending her children, biped," Sapphire said bluntly. "You males fail to appreciate how dangerous that can make a female."
"I fully understand it, madam," he said with a bow, "but to see it in my gentle, sweet little apprentice, it was a surprise, it was." He scratched his face, now starting to show signs he was growing a white beard. "I say, if you're off to help plan a rescue mission, count me in, lad. We can't let something like this go, we can't. It's time we put our foot down. Hard."
Hearing the usually easy-going and addled Phandebrass say something like that was a shock. He rarely showed any signs of actual aggression, and he didn't show signs of such focus very often. He was usually quite happy with talking his enemies to death. He rarely fought, but when he did, Tarrin realized as he thought back to the serveral battles they'd fought together, he used his magic wisely, efficiently, and to devastating effect. He showed signs of irreverence during minor skirmishes, but when it was a serious fight, he rose to the challenge, showing an almost inhuman coolness in the face of anything that faced him. Phandebrass seemed scattered, but when he focused his mind, he was a dangerous adversary. And he seemed focused right now.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you, Phandebrass," Sapphire told him.
"As you say, madam dragon, clan is all," the Wizard replied soberly. "I say, I may be no relation, but I'm rather fond of the lad, and I'm truly fond of his daughter, I am. They've been very good to me, and I say, I've not had such good company and such opportunities to learn in all my life, I've not. I take personal offense at them lowering themselves to such a dastardly trick, I do. I say, it's fair time we took the ki'zadun over our knee and spanked them with a spiked bat."
"I couldn't agree more," Sapphire nodded.
"Kimmie, I want you to go wait with Jesmind and Mist," he told her.
"Keeping us all together, hmm?" she said with a smile.
"Exactly that," he answered. "Sapphire wants to talk to Jenna, and there are some things I have to do before I can leave."
"Where are you going?"
"After Jasana," he answered.
"I say, let me pack up then," Phandebrass said.
"No, I'm going alone," he told the Wizard. "But you'll need to pack up anyway. They'll explain it all as soon as Spyder gets here."
"Spyder? She's going to help you?"
"No, she's going to help you," he told her. "You'll find out what's going on later, Kimmie. We don't have time to explain it right now."
"Alright," she said trustingly, letting go of him. "I take it I'll have to follow your scent trail back?"